Feb. 8, 2007

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Spartan Meet Notes

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State continues the 2007 regular season on the road, traveling to New Hampshire this Saturday for a quad-meet with UNH, Brown and West Virginia. State jumped five places to No. 17 in the most recent GymInfo Top 25 Poll that was released on Feb. 5, following a first-place finish at the 16th-Annual State of Michigan Classic with a team score of 196.350 on Feb. 3. MSU leads the all-time series with Brown, 1-0, while the Green and White holds a 18-6-1 advantage all-time versus New Hampshire. The meeting between the Spartans and Mountaineers is the second of three meetings between the two schools this season. WVU defeated MSU, 193-150-192.150, at the Pittsburgh Quad Meet on Jan. 19.

State Of Michigan Classic Recap
Michigan State won its first State of Michigan Classic since the 2003 season last Saturday night at Jenison Field House, posting a season-best team score of 196.350. State defeated No. 9 Michigan, who finished second with a score of 195.775, followed by Central Michigan in third (193.475), Eastern Michigan in fourth (193.125) and Western Michigan (191.975), who finished fifth overall. Spartan tumbler Kristen Coleman claimed her second consecutive all-around crown with a mark of 39.450, while MSU's Nicole Curler finished second with a score of 39.350.

Big Ten Gymnast Of The Week
Freshman Rochelle Robinson garnered her first career Gymnast of the Week honor on Feb. 7 for her outstanding performance at the State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. The Chesapeake, Va., native claimed top honors on the vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925 scores. She also matched teammate Kristen Coleman's first-place finish on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825. Robinson helped the Spartans claim the State of Michigan Classic team title, their first since the 2003 season.

National Spotlight
In the Feb. 5 individual national rankings, senior Kristen Coleman ranks 15th in the all-around competition with an average score of 39.200, and ninth on the uneven bars with a 9.881 through the first four meets of the season. Freshman Nicole Curler continues to impress during her rookie campaign. She currently ranks tied for 17th on the balance beam with an average of 9.925, while fellow freshman Rochelle Robinson ranks 22nd on the uneven bars (9.837) and 14th on the vault (9.95).

Looking Ahead
Following Saturday's quad-meet at UNH, State returns to East Lansing to host fellow Big Ten competitor Illinois in a dual meet, Feb. 17 at Jenison Field House. MSU finishes the month on the road at West Virginia on Feb. 23. The meeting between the Spartans and Mountaineers in Morgantown will be the third time the teams have competed at the same location this season.

Did You Know?
Through the first four meets of the 2007 season, the freshmen class has accounted for 12 first-place individual event finishes and one top score in the all-around competition.

Three Strong
Freshman Rochelle Robinson claimed three individual titles at the prestigious State of Michigan Classic on Saturday. The Chesapeake, Va., native claimed top honors on the vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925's, while matching teammate Kristen Coleman for first place on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825.

Scouting UNH
The Wildcats most recently fell to Denver, 195.650-194.150, in a dual meet at the Whittemore Center on Feb. 4. UNH is led by freshman Taryn LaFountain who won EAGL Specialist of the Week honors after winning the beam (9.725) and placing fourth on the floor exercise with a score of 9.60 versus Denver.

Scouting Brown
The Bears most recently finished second to in-state rival Rhode Island, 184.825-180.150, and defeated Rhode Island College (170.250) in a tri-meet on Feb. 4. Brown is led by freshman Alicia Sacramone, who currently ranks No. 14 in the nation on the balance beam with a 9.837 average, after posting a 9.775 to claim first-place honors versus URI and RIC.

Scouting West Virginia
The meeting between the Spartans and Mountaineers is the second of three competitions between the two schools this season. WVU defeated MSU, 193.150-192.150, at the Pittsburgh quad-meet on Jan. 19. The Mountaineers are ranked 22nd in the most recent GymInfo Top 25 poll (Feb. 5), following a strong performance of 194.625 to defeat Wilson on Feb. 3.

Katlyn Roggensack

Flip For The Cure Meet Recap
Despite a school-record performance of 39.525 by Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, the Michigan State gymnastics team fell to 3-3 on the year, suffering a 194.850-194.425 defeat to Ohio State on Jan. 27. UIC also competed in the Flip For The Cure Meet, which benefited the American Cancer Society Strides For Breast Cancer cause, finishing third with an overall score of 190.125. Coleman took first-place honors on the uneven bars (9.950) and balance beam (9.850), and finished tied for first on the floor exercise with teammate Nicole Curler with a mark of 9.850, while her all-around mark was the meet's top performance. Coleman's all-around tally was the highest Spartan mark since the 1996 season.

Big Ten Gymnasts Of The Week
After not receiving a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honoree since the 2005 season, Michigan State has earned the honor twice thus far in 2007. Kristen Coleman won the award on Jan. 31 for her record-breaking performance at the Jan. 27 Flip For The Cure Meet. Coleman set a new Spartan benchmark with a 39.525 in the all-around compeition, adding first-place finishes on the bars (9.950) and beam (9.850), while she tied with teammate Nicole Curler for first-place honors on the floor exercise (9.850).

Freshman tumbler Nicole Curler earned her first-career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor on Jan. 17. Curler picked up the weekly honor after winning both the balance beam (9.925) and floor exercise (9.875), while also tying for first in the all-around against No. 16 Arizona on Jan. 12. The Bay City, Mich., native tied with teammate Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, tallying a mark of 39.400. Curler helped MSU achieve its highest team mark on the uneven bars since the 2000 season and the third-highest in Spartan history (49.325).

Flipping For A Record
Freshman tumbler Rochelle Robinson set a new Spartan record with a mark of 9.950 on the vault at the Flip For The Cure Meet at Jenison Field House on Jan. 27. The score was the highest since the 2004 season when then-freshman Victoria Iakounina tied the all-time mark with a 9.925.

Three Of The Top Five
The Spartans placed three competitors in the top five of the all-around competition at the Pittsburgh quad meet on Jan. 19, including freshman Rochelle Robinson who took second with a score 38.825. Katlyn Roggensack (38.450) and Kristen Coleman (38.425) took third and fourth, respectively, for the Green and White.

Strong Start
At least three freshmen competed on each event for MSU in the season opener versus Arizona. Nicole Curler tumbled her way to a first-place finish on both the balance beam (9.925) and floor exercise (9.875) events, while her score of 39.400 tied for first in the all-around competition with teammate Kristen Coleman. Freshman Kelly Moffitt also contributed for the Green and White with a 9.825 on the vault (third place), while Megan Bergland finished third on the uneven bars with a 9.850 in her collegiate debut.

Record Breakers
Both Kristen Coleman and sophomore Katlyn Roggensack set career-highs on the uneven bar event in the season opener against Arizona. Coleman captured first place with a 9.925, while Roggensack contributed a 9.800 for the Green and White. MSU's score of 49.325 ranks as the third-highest total in school history, and the highest mark since the 2000 campaign.

2007 Schedule
Michigan State will face six teams ranked in the GymInfo Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, and also will compete against nine additional teams that received votes by the panel of coaches during the 2007 season. MSU opens the season against No. 16 Arizona and will face No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Michigan, No. 14 Penn State and No. 24 West Virginia during the dual-meet season.

Looking Back
The Spartans ended the 2006 season with a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship Meet at Jenison Field House and a trip to the NCAA Central Regionals held on the campus of Louisiana State University. The Big Ten finish was the highest since 1996, and the regional meet appearance was the 15th in Spartan history, and eighth under Klages. Kristen Coleman was the Spartans' top scorer on all-four events at the Regional Championship, as the Green and White wrapped up its season with a fifth-place finish and a score of 193.575. In addition to her third-place finish in the all-around (39.125), Coleman added a sixth-place finish on the uneven bars, scoring a 9.800 to clinch her spot at the national meet and prolong her season as an individual competitor.

Conference Honors
Prior to the 2006 conference championship meet, junior Kristen Coleman and classmate Victoria Iakounina were named to the All-Big Ten First and Second Teams, respectively. The honor was Coleman's first All-Big Ten selection, while Iakounina also earned second-team honors and was named Freshman of the Year in 2004. Senior Sarah Alexander was also recognized as Michigan State's sportsmanship award honoree. In addition, Spartan head coach Kathie Klages was named the 2006 Big Ten Co-Coach of the Year, at a post-championship awards ceremony. It was the third-such honor, and the second in three seasons, for Coach Klages.

Head Coach Kathie Klages
Kathie Klages is in her 17th season at the helm of the Michigan State gymnastics program in 2007. She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year award winner, and has been named Central Region Coach of the Year four times. Klages' teams have been consistently successful, as she has posted a winning record in each of her previous 16 seasons leading the Green and White. In 2006, Klages guided MSU to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship Meet, mentored the 10th Big Ten individual event champion in school history (Chayla Hill, vault) and led State to its 15th appearance in NCAA Regional competition.

Scoring Rundown
Unlike other collegiate athletic rankings, collegiate gymnastic rankings are not based on wins and losses or votes. Gymnastic teams are ranked by their meet scores alone. Teams are ranked by their highest score during the opening portion of the season and are then ranked by their total season average. The teams finish the dual-meet season ranked by their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). A RQS is based on a team's top six regular-season scores, with three scores coming from away meets. To obtain the RQS, the team's or gymnast's highest score is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged.

Spartan Gymnastics Signs Two For 2008
Two gymnasts have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Michigan State, beginning with the 2007 fall semester. Nicole Argiros (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson High School/Michigan Academy of Gymnastics) and Kathryn Mahoney (Western Spring, Ill./Lyons Township High School/Illinois Gymnastics Institute) will don the Green and White for the 2008 season.

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